Tsunade
Tsunade (綱手) is the Fifth Hokage (五代目火影, Godaime Hokage) of Konohagakure, taking over after Hiruzen Sarutobi died; she was replaced by Danzō, however, after she went into a coma during Pain's invasion, having exerted all of her chakra to protect the citizens from the large-scale Shinra Tensei that destroyed the village. She recovers shortly after Kakashi Hatake become Sixth Hokage. Tsunade is the only known living member of the Senju clan; she is directly descended from the First Hokage, her grandfather Hashirama Senju--and is related to the Second Hokage, her granduncle Tobirama Senju. Along with Orochimaru and Jiraiya, Tsunade is one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha; and as of Jiraiya's death and Orochimaru's permanent sealing, Tsunade is the only one of her former teammates who is still alive. Background .]] Tsunade is the granddaughter of the First Hokage, and the grandniece of the Second Hokage, leading other characters to call her "Princess" (姫, Hime). She is, along with Jiraiya and Orochimaru, a former student of the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi. Tsunade is well-known for her extremely large breasts (106 centimeters, according to Jiraiya's estimate), despite the fact that Jiraiya referred to her as "flat-chested Tsunade" during their childhood. In addition, during a flashback, it is shown that Team Hiruzen underwent the same initial training as Team Kakashi, and had to capture bells from their sensei. The flashback shows Tsunade and Orochimaru were the ones to capture one bell each out of the two existent ones, while Jiraiya was tied to a pole. During the Second Great Shinobi World War, Tsunade and her former teammates fought Hanzō, who gave them the title of Konoha's "Three Legendary Shinobi" (伝説の三忍, Densetsu no Sannin) as a reward for surviving the strife of their battle. On their way back to Konoha, they encountered the Ame Orphans, who Jiraiya chose to train. Throughout the war, she would become famous for frequently counteracting Chiyo's poisoning attempts, earning contempt from Chiyo because of it. Furthermore, according to Jiraiya, Tsunade was the one to bring them victory in the war. At some point throughout, however, on her brother's twelfth birthday, Tsunade gave him their grandfather's crystal necklace, in the hopes that it would help him achieve his dream of becoming Hokage. The next day, he died as a casualty of the war, which returned the necklace to Tsunade's possession. Sometime afterwards, Tsunade fell in love with a man named Dan, who also wanted to become Hokage. As a sign of her affection, and in the hopes that it would help make his dreams come true, Tsunade gave him the amulet as well. Dan, too, would go on to die a bloody death during the course of the war, once again returning the necklace to her possession. Just before Third Great Shinobi War, she took command of a team of Genin called Team Aoitori; consisting of Kyūka Namikaze, Riyan Uchiha, and a yet unnamed member. She was their sensei, teaching them basic medical ninjutsu; except for Riyan, who's chakra control was poor at the time. She also saw her students promoted to Chūnin, right before war broke out. She was present when Danzō killed Riyan's brother, Mataiden Uchiha. After he is exiled from the village by Danzō, and with the deaths of the two she loved the most, Tsunade came to lose faith in the title of Hokage, believing that only fools would want such a position. With these changes of ideals, Tsunade left Konoha with Dan's niece, Shizune, taking her in as her apprentice. Appearance Although Tsunade is over fifty years old, she maintains a young appearance through a constant Transformation Technique. She has a violet rhombus on her forehead, a chakra gathering point known as the Yin Seal. Tsunade has fair skin and brown eyes. Except for her bangs, which are parted in the middle and fall down the sides of her face, Tsunade's long, blonde hair is tied into two ponytails using bands in the same colour as the seal on her forehead. She often wears a grass-green robe with the kanji for gamble (賭, kake) written in black on the back, inside a red circle. Underneath she wears a khaki, kimono-style blouse with no sleeves, held closed by a broad, dark bluish-grey obi that matches her trousers. Her blouse is closed quite low, revealing her sizable cleavage. She wears open-toed sandals with low heels and nail polish in the same color as her trousers and obi on both her fingernails and toenails. She used to wear the First Hokage's Necklace in clear view on her chest, before giving it to Naruto Uzumaki. Personality The deaths of Dan and Nawaki, as well as the exiling of one of her students from the village greatly changed Tsunade; Dan's death, and her failed attempt to save him, gave her hemophobia (a fear of blood), causing her to freeze upon seeing it. The repeated returns of the necklace to her also led her, and many others to believe that it was cursed, and whoever Tsunade might give it to would die soon after. Tsunade typically projects a tough demeanor, even when facing great personal difficulty, and rarely compliments or praises people. She readily criticizes others for their faults, such as Naruto for his immaturity, or Jiraiya for his perversion, though her habits are rarely any better. On occasion, though, Tsunade shows sympathy for others, consoling Shikamaru that, while he failed his mission to return Sasuke to Konoha, all of his teammates survived. This is also shown when she worked hard in order to help heal Rock Lee, so that he might continue to be a ninja. She also allowed herself to cry when she learned of Jiraiya's death, though not in public view. Tsunade is also a compulsive gambler, who has the unfortunate disadvantage of having terrible luck. As a result, she has been elevated to a comical status as "The Legendary Sucker" (伝説のカモ, Densetsu no Kamo), for the gross profits others have made off of her misfortune and gambling addiction. In the rare instances that Tsunade hits a winning streak, she believes it to be a bad omen, and bad things do tend to happen to her or her comrades afterwards. The symbol on the back of her coat, 賭 (kake), means "gamble", or "wager", as gambling is one of her favorite pastimes. As Hokage, Tsunade has shown the same level of loyalty to the village that previous Hokage held; during the invasion of Pain, she released all of her chakra in order to save the lives of hundreds of people within Konoha, at great personal risk. Tsunade also has a great deal of faith in the next generation, and sees the potential that Naruto and the rest of the Konoha 11 hold. Synopsis Abilities As one of the Sannin and the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade is unarguably one of the most powerful ninja that Konoha has ever produced, along with her fellow Sannin. She excels in medical ninjutsu and hand-to-hand combat. Furthermore, she is hailed as the world's greatest in the field of medicine, and as the world's strongest and most beautiful kunoichi by several people, such as her student, Sakura Haruno, and the likes of Shikaku Nara and Jiraiya. The latter also mentioned that Tsunade is the only ninja in the world who could spike a drink without a shinobi knowing it and also commented that no one could stand equal to her in terms of combat and medical prowess. Physical Combat Her trademark ability is her incredible raw strength, which was enough to lift up Gamabunta's gigantic sword several feet into the air and slam it down through the roof of Manda's mouth, effectively rendering him incapable of movement. Her legendary strength is amplified even further with chakra control to monstrous levels. By storing chakra and releasing it at the point of contact, she can enhance her strength to the point where she can effortlessly cause gigantic craters with a simple punch or kick to the ground. Tsunade has even been shown to defeat a pre-timeskip Naruto with one finger. Even without her strength, as shown when her muscles were cut up by Kabuto's Chakra Scalpels, Tsunade proved herself to be surprisingly fast, durable, and extremely proficient in hand-to-hand combat. Also due to her inhuman prowess in chakra control, Tsunade is capable of jumping several hundred feet into the air and increase her speed to incredible levels by using her perfect chakra control to channel her chakra to her feet and propel herself upward or frontward. As though this weren't enough, Tsunade has showcased incredible durability feats, both physical and mental. She was still able to move after having her muscles torn, something Kabuto himself found impressive and praise-worthy. Furthermore, after being stabbed straight through the chest, her left shoulder, and her ribcage, she still managed to deliver a kick straight to Orochimaru's face, stand up, and release an S-rank ninjutsu. Likewise, her mental durability is so great that she was able to overcome her paralyzing fear of blood through willpower alone, something every eyewitness found miraculous. Transformation Technique Mastery Even though she is in her fifties, Tsunade's Transformation Technique makes it appear as if she were still twenty (which Naruto calls "living a lie"). Tsunade's transformation is somewhat different from a normal transformation, as it seems to be permanent, not getting dispelled when she is slashed or injured, and she apparently does not need to exert any effort to stay transformed. The transformation dispels when she runs out of chakra, reducing her to an elderly and frail form. The fact that she can take a basic E-rank ninjutsu and upgrade it to something of this caliber is a testimony to her incredible prowess in the area. Medical Ninjutsu In addition to her unrivaled strength, she is equally impressive and renowned as the best in the world for her expertise as a medical-nin, and can heal wounds that most others would consider impossible with relative ease. Her knowledge of the medical arts are so great that she can immediately determine what kind of injuries or illness a person has from a single glance. In addition to this, Tsunade seems to have a vast knowledge of poisons and herbal medicine, as noted by Chiyo of Sunagakure. During the Second Great Ninja War, Tsunade was the only one capable of countering Chiyo's poisons, furthermore the latter stated, that Tsunade was able to neutralize her poisons and create antidotes immediately. The most extreme example of her medical prowess is Creation Rebirth, a technique that makes use of the massive amounts of chakra available after using Yin Seal: Release to continuously regenerate the cells in her body, healing any wound and even growing back missing organs. It gives her a form of "immortality" in battle that even Orochimaru expressed envy for. However, because of the rapid cell regeneration, the technique shortens her life much like Naruto's four-tailed transformation. Because of the risk associated with the technique, Tsunade only uses Creation Rebirth in extremely desperate situations. Furthermore, though she was never seen doing so because of a turn of events, it should be noted Orochimaru and Kabuto had faith that Tsunade's medical abilities would be able to heal Orochimaru's arms after Hiruzen sealed them using the Dead Demon Consuming Seal. It would appear that Tsunade herself, as well as Shizune, thought she was capable of doing so, too, as she considered doing it for over a week. Tsunade has also been noted to be capable of making a powerful sleeping potion, an ability that she passed on to her student, Sakura Haruno. Summons Tsunade can summon slugs, that vary in sizes, as noted by Chiyo of Sunagakure. Although the only slug summoned in the series has been Katsuyu. The slugs primary abilities seem to revolve around spitting acid and budding into smaller slugs. Tsunade apparently has a mental connection with Katsuyu, as she was able to get reports and send out messages through Katsuyu during the invasion of Pain. Additionally, Katsuyu can completely surround herself around humans, effectively protecting them from injures. Lastly, Tsunade can transfer her chakra to a large number of slugs over long distances. By having the slugs spread out and attach themselves to wounded individuals, Tsunade is then capable of healing multiple injuries at multiple locations simultaneously. Stats Quotes * "One of the Legendary Sannin taking on a snot-nosed Genin... I oughta be ashamed of myself." * (To Jiraiya about Naruto) "Jiraiya, are you the one who taught him the Rasengan? Are you acting like a teacher by teaching him something he can't master? Don't give him any ideas! That's why this kid likes to daydream that he's going to become Hokage someday." * "Why am I putting my life on the line? Because now... I am the Fifth Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves!" * "Nawaki... Dan... I hope you are watching this. This boy, Naruto... will surely complete what you started." * "If my belief places Konoha... places the Country of Fire in danger... I will put my life on the line to protect it! As the Fifth Hokage!" * (To Shikamaru) "Grow up... Death comes with being a shinobi... There are times when death is hard to accept, but if you don't get over it, there's no future..." * (To the advisors) "What the hell is wrong with you!? How long are you going to treat Naruto like a baby!? He's inherited Konoha's 'Will of Fire!' He's grown up! And now he's out there trying to surpass Jiraiya himself! He's not some secret weapon we should be trying to hide! He's Naruto Uzumaki, proud shinobi and defender of Konoha!'" * (To the advisors) "''People like Jiraiya... and Sarutobi, and Elder Chiyo of the Sand possessed something you two sorely lack. Do you know what that is!? ...Faith! My grandfather, the First Hokage, believed in you and entrusted you with the village. Now it's your turn to believe in these children and entrust it to them!" * (To Pain) "Don't sell the Five Kage short! Your words will never sway the resolve of those who refuse to let the peace their ancestors strove for be destroyed! You're nothing but a terrorist!" * (To Pain) "I am the Fifth Hokage... You've trampled on our ancestors' treasure... their dream... And you will pay the price! As the Hokage, I will put a stop to you here and now!"